Banana Babies

Many years ago (damn it!), the Dairy Queen that was on MacArthur Blvd., one block away from MacArthur High School, would freeze bananas on a stick and then dip them in the chocolate shell they used for dipped cones. This process turned an ordinary piece of fruit into something of surpassing wonderfulness.

When I was extremely pregnant with my daughter (also many years ago, damn it!), I went for a check-up on a Monday, and was told something to the effect of: "Wow - you could have this baby almost anytime! Come in tomorrow for an induction so we can be sure you won't be delivering tomorrow evening in Houston rush-hour traffic. And don't eat anything after midnight." The local Dairy Queen drive-through closed at 11:00 pm, so I went up there at 10:55 pm in order to have my very favorite food item just before going NPO at midnight.

As the independently-owned Dairy Queens across North Texas were closed or bought out by a large conglomerate that marketed only DQ-branded items, frozen chocolate-dipped bananas became harder and harder to find. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in the outlet mall in Terrell sells them. I guess the one in Grapevine Mills probably does, too. And you can sometimes find them at county and state fairs, but it's not a regular or reliable thing. And since I moved to Tampa, none of those places have been available. *sigh*

But - a couple of years ago, I discovered Diana's Banana Babies! Right in the freezer at my supermarket! Half a banana, frozen on a stick, and dipped in chocolate! With choices! Milk Chocolate! Dark Chocolate! Rolled in Nuts! So yummy. So simple. And I no longer get those crazy looks from the kids at random DQ drive-throughs from my wistfully asking if they have frozen chocolate-dipped bananas.

Life is good.